What is a sprig of thyme? If you're unfamiliar with this herb, it's never too late to learn! Read here to understand thyme and how to use it.
What has your cooking journey been like? Perhaps you observed someone in your family cooking from a young age, and you absorbed some of their habits and knowledge about food. On the other hand, maybe you've been figuring it out along the way as you've gotten older.
If you're venturing deeper into the world of cooking, you'll find spices you haven't tasted before and herbs you haven't tried. Learning how to incorporate these into meals can make a world of difference in your cooking!
Today, let's focus on one herb in particular: thyme. We'll go over how to identify this herb as well as how to use it in cooking, and several other tips. Then, we'll show you several of our favorite recipes that include thyme.
What Is Thyme?
You might not even realize that you've seen thyme before because it looks like many other plants. Thyme is a leafy herb that grows in small bushes. This Mediterranean herb brings tons of flavor to many recipes and also has medicinal and dietary uses.
In ancient Egypt, people used thyme in embalming fluid. In ancient Greece, thyme was commonly added to bathwater and used as incense in temples.
If you've ever heard of the Hippocratic oath, then you've heard about Hippocrates, the Greek physician who recommended thyme as a treatment for some illnesses and ailments. Essentially, the use of thyme in medicine and food dates back thousands of years — and we’ve kept it around all this time because it is so incredible.
How Is Thyme Used in Cooking?
As mentioned, thyme has lots of uses. For now, we'll focus on the food-related uses of this herb.
Primarily, thyme helps add a compelling flavor to soups, stews, meats, and many other dishes. The flavor of thyme can vary greatly from earthy to citrussy or even minty, making it a complex herb to add to your meals.
Often, a recipe will call for you to add a sprig of thyme to the mix. If you're unfamiliar with thyme, you might be unsure how much to add.
Typically, a sprig refers to a piece of thyme that is around five inches long. It may also have a couple of smaller bits branching off of the primary piece that you can also include.
What Are Some Substitutes for Thyme
Let's say you have been running around all week and you forgot a few things the last time you made a trip to the store. In that case, there are several herbs you can substitute for thyme to help salvage your recipe.
Here are a few common replacements for thyme:
Basil
Rosemary
Oregano
Marjoram
Herbs de Provence
If you find yourself in this situation, it might be time to consider enlisting more help for mealtimes. You don't have to hire a personal chef to enjoy yummy food in your home, but getting some assistance can help you make meals run more smoothly.
At Jow, we're happy to help. You can think of us as your grocery shopping assistant! We'll help you get the ingredients needed to make your favorite recipes and add them to a grocery list to order from the store. Then, all you have to do is pick up your items or request an at-home drop-off and get cooking!
The Difference Between Fresh Thyme and Dried Thyme
Thyme comes in two primary varieties: fresh thyme and dried thyme. In some months, you can find fresh thyme at stores. However, you may have to opt for dried thyme in some cases if it's not available.
Even better, if you grow thyme, you’ll have thyme all year round. Whenever you need it, you can remove a sprig of thyme and add it to your recipe.
Dried thyme tends to be stronger than fresh thyme, but fresh thyme brings a brighter, more lively flavor. Which you choose depends on how strong of a flavor you prefer in your dishes.
If you cook with thyme, your body could reap some benefits. Here are a few potential benefits of thyme:
Gastrointestinal support
Boosted respiratory health
Eased inflammation
Nourishment from essential vitamins
Preparing Thyme for Cooking
If you use fresh thyme or dried thyme, you may need to prepare it in different ways before using it in your recipes.
Dried thyme is usually prepared for cooking, either as dried sprigs or chopped up in a container. When using a sprig of fresh thyme, it's best to wash it off under water and pat it dry with a paper towel.If the recipe you're following requires a sprig of thyme, then be sure to remove any woody stems, but leave the flexible green sprig intact. On the other hand, if your recipe calls for fresh thyme, you should remove the thyme leaves from the spring entirely.
How To Store Thyme
If you use fresh thyme in your cooking, you can use the leftover bits for up to a week. Store extra sprigs in your refrigerator in loose wrapping to use them again.
Alternatively, dried thyme keeps for much longer. If it is not in a store-bought herb container, make sure to store it in a cool, dark climate. Your dried thyme will be usable for around six months.
Where To Find Thyme
Typically, you can find thyme in two separate places in the grocery store. First, you can find it in the fresh produce aisle, where there may be packaged fresh-cut thyme. If you're looking for dried thyme, you'll be able to find it on the aisle with other seasonings and packaged dried herbs.
If you want to be more adventurous, you could grow your own thyme from seeds or purchase a thyme plant from a garden.
How To Measure Thyme
Sometimes, you might be unsure how much thyme to add to your recipe, depending on whether you have fresh or dried thyme on hand. Here's a key that can help you convert measurements to use in your recipes:
One sprig of fresh thyme is equal to 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme.
One teaspoon of dried thyme is equal to one tablespoon of fresh thyme.
One ounce of dried thyme is equal to 1/2 cup of fresh thyme.
4 Thyme Cooking Tips
When working with thyme, knowing a few extra tips can come in handy! Keep these in mind and you'll be on your way to enjoying all that thyme has to offer.
Remove the Stem
When a recipe calls for a sprig of thyme, you might think you should put an entire stem into the mix. However, several sprigs grow on one stem, so be sure to remove an individual sprig from the bunch and leave the woody stem to the side.
Let It Dry Before Storing
When storing thyme for later use, you'll want to dry your thyme completely first. Otherwise, you might run into limp or moldy thyme that is unusable later in the week.
Know How To Identify Thyme
As we mentioned, multiple sprigs of thyme grow on each stem. When choosing a sprig of thyme, try to choose one that is around four inches long.
Select a woody stem from the bunch with little offshoots and leaves. The thyme leaves on your sprig of thyme should equal approximately 1/2 teaspoon if you were to measure them.
Add It In Early
When cooking with thyme, it's best to add this ingredient early. Doing so allows your dish to soak up the flavor and maintain a more vibrant flavor.
Here's a key that can help you convert measurements to use in your recipes: One sprig of fresh thyme is equal to 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme. One teaspoon of dried thyme is equal to one tablespoon of fresh thyme.
If a recipe calls for a "sprig" of thyme, the leaves and stem should be kept intact. When adding a whole sprig of thyme to soups, stews, or other recipes, the leaves usually fall off during cooking and the woody stem can be removed prior to serving.
Thyme is a pungent herb and can stand the longer cooking times of soups and stews. Actually, adding the herb early on and leaving it to braise for hours is typically the best use of the herb, as this will allow the taste to infuse the dish nicely. However, always use thyme sparingly.
A bunch of thyme contains four to five sprigs of thyme taken from a live shrub, or around one teaspoon of dried leaves. A 4 to 5 inch long cut from the main stem makes up a sprig of thyme. It belongs to the mint family, therefore it's related to familiar herbs like oregano, basil, and, of course, mint.
A sprig, as defined above, will yield about 1/3 teaspoon of fresh leaves (loosely packed). Dried thyme and fresh thyme are interchangeable with some difference in flavor. The standard ratio is 3 t fresh = 1 t dry, but this is often hard to measure.
The stems of thyme are edible but are typically too woody to enjoy. The leaves are really what you are after, but leaving the leaves attached to the stem saves prep time. You can just remove and discard the stem and any attached leaves after cooking.
Use 1 teaspoon of dried thyme for 1 tablespoon fresh, so a 1:3 ratio of dried to fresh thyme. For recipes and dishes that call for fresh thyme that not are cooked, sometimes it's ok to sub in dried, sometimes not. The best rule of thumb is just to think about how the herb is being featured in the food.
Two sprigs of thyme will yield perhaps a tablespoon of leaves when stripped from the stem, depending on the size of the sprigs. Using the typical ratio of 1/3 unit dried to substitute for 1 unit of fresh herbs, you would then want about a teaspoon for dried thyme.
Freshly harvested thyme will last 1-3 days at room temperature but can be kept fresh for 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator. Fresh thyme can also be dried for later use or frozen for a year or more. Although drying and freezing cause the herb to lose its freshness, much of the flavor will remain.
Before you go racing to the garden or farmers market and then put those delicious herbs into your next dish, you should always be washing your fresh herbs before cooking with them. No matter the type of produce you are going to be eating, herbs, fruit, etc., you should always carefully wash it before consumption.
Thyme is a low shrub native to the Mediterranean and a member of the mint family. It grows in long, thin sprigs with tiny spear-shaped green leaves. We primarily use these leaves in cooking, though the stems can be used for seasoning a soup or braise if removed before serving.
Fresh and dried thyme is generally safe to eat or drink as a refreshing tea. But essential oils are different. They're highly concentrated and can be toxic in their undiluted form. Ingesting too much thyme in essential oil could cause a risky drop in your blood pressure.
While you can use fresh herbs, after cooking them for 10 minutes or longer, the natural oils that make the herbs taste fresh are released. This means that even if fresh herbs are used, they will have the same impact as dried ones. In stovetop recipes, dried herbs generally work the same, or better than fresh herbs.
The green form is the best for culinary use. Known for its beautiful rose-purple flowers that bloom in early summer, caraway thyme (Thymus herba-barona) has a mild caraway flavor. It is a hardy perennial that grows 2 to 5 inches tall, with narrow green leaves.
Thyme. Thyme has a sweet, nutty and lightly spicy flavour, making it great for marinades and most meat dishes. It goes well with these herbs: Basil, chives, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage and tarragon.
You can add extra broth, water, milk, cream (depending on the soup's base) to “water-down” the thyme flavor. Adding a neutral grain, such as rice or beans will help absorb it too.
If you are allergic to plants in this family, you could be allergic to thyme as well (1). Excess intake of thyme has also been associated with negative effects like migraines, headaches, stomach pain, and dizziness. This can be attributed to the volatile oils in the herb, which may cause issues in certain individuals.
Thyme is a pungent warm, woody spice related to mint and oregano. One of the oldest culinary herbs, it is a key ingredient in many Mediterranean and French cuisines. In fact there is some flavor nuance to the sweeter softer French thyme compared to heartier Mediterranean thyme.
Dried thyme added right at the end of cooking to soups like lentil and split pea brings an aroma to the dish that is hard to miss. Just add the herb and immediately take the soup off the heat. Keep the dish covered, and when you are ready to serve, the soup will smell heavenly.
“It's important to carefully wash any produce—including fresh herbs—because [it] is handled before being sold, and whether the item is organic or conventional, the growing process leaves deposits on the item,” says Molly Siegler, global culinary and hospitality associate coordinator for Whole Foods.
How To Store Thyme. Fresh thyme needs refrigeration if you want it to last for more than a few days. Store it in a plastic bag with a moist paper towel for best results.
With herbs such as rosemary and thyme, you don't even need to strip the leaves from the branches. Press out all the air, seal and freeze. To use the herbs, just break off what you need straight from the freezer -- you don't even have to defrost them.
Common thyme (the one you've probably encountered most regularly) has an earthy, minty, slightly lemony flavor. And there are more than one hundred other varieties, often with names that match their flavor profiles: orange thyme, caraway thyme, and za'atar thyme, for example.
Recent studies have revealed that thyme tea has more health benefits than previously known. Studies have shown that it can help reduce inflammation, improve digestion, boost immunity, aid in weight loss, lower cholesterol levels and blood sugar levels, and even reduce cancer risk.
To store sage, thyme, rosemary, mint, or chives: Clean and dry the herbs very well (see below for cleaning tips). Place in a pile in a slightly damp paper towel and wrap them up. Place inside of a plastic bag with a few punctured holes. Keep in the refrigerator about 1-2 weeks or more.
Growing herbs in water is an easy way to create an indoor herb garden on a windowsill or under a grow light. Herbs like basil, thyme, mint, and parsley add incredible flavor to food and most are easy to grow in water. Plus, it's a mess-free and pest-free method to enjoy fresh herbs all year long.
Thyme has antispasmodic, mucus-clearing, and antibacterial actions. contains an essential oil (thymol) and certain flavonoids. This plant has antispasmodic, expectorant (mucus-expelling), and antibacterial actions, and it is considered helpful in cases of bronchitis.
Primarily, thyme helps add a compelling flavor to soups, stews, meats, and many other dishes. The flavor of thyme can vary greatly from earthy to citrussy or even minty, making it a complex herb to add to your meals.
Thyme is typically used in savory dishes like braised or roasted meat, vegetables, or fish, as well as in savory baking. It can also be used to add flavor and depth to marinades, soups and stocks, co*cktail elements, and teas.
Tomatoes and herbs go hand in hand, whether you eat the tomatoes raw or cooked. Basil is the number one herb for tomatoes, but other herbs compliment tomatoes as well: bay, chives, dill, marjoram, oregano, parsley, rosemary, savory, tarragon and thyme.
The first part is, two sprigs of thyme (like the OP needed) is about 1 tablespoon. The second part is, dried is roughly 1/3 the volume of fresh, so you need 1/3 of 1 tablespoon, or one teaspoon.
Generally, when swapping dried herbs for fresh herbs, you should use ⅓ of the amount of fresh herbs called for in the recipe. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, then you would add 1 teaspoon of dried thyme.
If your recipe calls for thyme sprigs you can figure 6 fresh thyme sprigs = 3/4 teaspoon ground dried thyme and you can use the ratio of 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme equals about 3/4 teaspoon of dried thyme.
If the stems are so tender that they snap, they're usually tender enough to eat. Just add these tender bits to the pile and chop them up along with the leaves.
Using dried herbs instead of fresh like oregano, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, bay, and sage will most likely provide a deeper and more seasoned flavor. The reason why dried herbs are stronger than fresh is that their flavor compounds are non-volatile and therefore don't evaporate when drying or exposed to heat.
Thyme is synonymous with beef dishes. Used fresh or dry, thyme will only round the flavors and add a touch of depth that only herbs can provide. Some recipes you can try that contain thyme include: Classic steak marinade.
Substitutes for thyme range from similar fresh herbs such as oregano, marjoram and rosemary. For dry thyme alternatives: consider a 1:3 substitute of fresh thyme. Many blends can also be substituted as thyme is a key component for example: poultry seasoning, za'atar, and herbs de provence.
Dried herbs tend to have a deeper, spicier flavor than fresh herbs. For that reason, you can usually add less dry herbs than you would fresh herbs. That way, those strong flavors won't overpower your dish. A good ratio is 1 to 3.
With herbs such as rosemary and thyme, you don't even need to strip the leaves from the branches. Press out all the air, seal and freeze. To use the herbs, just break off what you need straight from the freezer -- you don't even have to defrost them.
Introduction: My name is Melvina Ondricka, I am a helpful, fancy, friendly, innocent, outstanding, courageous, thoughtful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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